Jen Kirkman - comedian: What I Would Have Said About Eddie Brill on NPR »

jenkirkman:

**I wrote this last night but was shy about publishing it. But I feel good about it today. Please forgive any grammar or spelling errors. I’m not the best editor. ** - Jen Kirkman

I was supposed to talk to the Larry Mantle show on NPR this week. They wanted to talk to me about the recent…

 Just two things I want to pull out here:

This: “I’ve walked into clubs where I know the person running the show isn’t familiar with me and I can feel in my gut, I’m not getting a fair first impression in his mind because I’m a woman.   I can’t explain it.  And this is why I hate talking about sexism in comedy.  Because it’s hard to put your finger on it when it’s happening.  All I can tell you is that it sets off something in your gut.  You feel suddenly like you have no right feeling comfortable in a club.  You feel suddenly like no matter what you do, you’re being judged differently.  It’s just a feeling.  It’s why I related to Dave Chapelle when he “freaked out” and walked away from his Comedy Central show because he just “felt” that someone in the room was laughing at his jokes not in the right way.  He’s not saying that anyone in the room was racist but he’s saying there are still issues of race and when you’re someone who wants to be funny for a living it’s a bummer when huge “isms” suddenly are on your head to deal with.  I didn’t sign up for that.”

And this: “I’m asking you dudes in comedy, my friends, to please be like Nirvana and don’t just silently agree with us but keep bringing us girlfriends of yours on the road with you, keep casting us in things – not just as a romantic interest. Keep helping CHANGE the culture – don’t just make us women comment on it constantly.  I want to hear the male comics talk about how funny women are – or just talk about how funny certain comedians are and I pray they have a healthy heaping of girls on that list.  Let’s NORMALIZE women in comedy so we can stop talking about it .  I’m done talking about it.  I need the men to start challenging this shit too.”

Because, yeah, you know what? If you feel it, it’s there, and you need to put your money where your mouth is. Despite all the talk about “women in comedy” and being supportive that floats around UCB, the number of women performing on Harold night fell from about 35-ish% when I took my first class in 2009, to about 25% in the most recent audition round. And I am deeply, deeply appreciative of the fact that there is a conscious effort afoot at UCB to increase female teachers, increase women in advanced study classes, and ultimately, increase female performers at the theater and hence, the percentage of people who happen to also be females that are working in comedy. Put the best people onstage, but still stop to reflect on what is implied when an audience sees that only 25% of the best onstage are women. ‘Cause I’m gonna say it overtly right now: From a female student’s perspective, watching the number of women you see onstage fall lower with every audition round you’ve witnessed, what you sometimes feel is that hey, maybe it’s not overt, but I feel like I’ve got more of an uphill battle here. Or in the words of Jen Kirkman: “FUCK. ARRRRGH.”

(Pretend I was gesticulating wildly and passionately while you read this. With a few pointy fingers and lots of throwing around of the arms.)